An E-Bowl of Sugar!

An interesting new approach to social networking, which is normally associated with widely dispersed communities.

This time it is to reinforce a real geographical community.

Residents UK is a social network site for people living within modern blocks of flats to communicate with each other. In other words people don't ignore their neighbours or have a chance meeting on the landing but actually move in and check out who lives in the block and who might share an interest with them or who can help them.

It will be interesting to see whether it takes off and whether developers of these blocks encourage it? The danger is that it might increase social segregation by making such electronically "gated communities" even more cohesive and less connected with surrounding poorer communities.

I would therefore love to see a local council kit out one of its own housing blocks with home computers and encourage people to join a local block social network - a sort of "e-tenants association". Could such a network go some way to tackle the generally lower levels of trust in poorer communities and perhaps enhance community cohesion?

Comments

[Anna Chester]

I think it would be a fantastic idea for a council to show this sort of leadership - and there are other communities - not just blocks of flats where this would work. There are all sorts of reasons which mitigate against people striking up the community based friendships which existed 30 - 40 years ago. It strikes me that this would be an excellent way to get things going - find out what you have in common, test it out through the web and then if all is good - get together and make it a face-to-face friendship.

[Anna Chester]

I think it would be a fantastic idea for a council to show this sort of leadership - and there are other communities - not just blocks of flats where this would work. There are all sorts of reasons which mitigate against people striking up the community based friendships which existed 30 - 40 years ago. It strikes me that this would be an excellent way to get things going - find out what you have in common, test it out through the web and then if all is good - get together and make it a face-to-face friendship.

[Charlie Mansell]

I very much agree. Some of the community cohesion work that TCC has done for local authorities has been in 1930's terraces. This is also an area where a pilot scheme to create a geographical social network to bring disparate communities more together might might be worth exploring.